1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dietary supplements incorporating fruit of the Morinda citrifolia tree (noni). The invention also relates to, for example, dietary supplements incorporating both fruit of the noni tree and momordica fruit and optionally including one or more of raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits having a high oxygen radical adsorption capacity.
2. The Relevant Technology
Historically, native healers have used all parts of the noni tree (Morinda citrifolia) medicinally. The fruit, however, is the current focus of most medicinal uses today. For instance, the fruit has been used in Thailand to relieve vomiting and nausea. In Fiji, it has been used to treat ringworm, hemorrhoids, and oral problems such as bad breath, hoarseness, and mouth ulcers. In the Cook Islands, noni juice has been used to treat urinary tract infections and abdominal swellings. The plant is also found throughout India where the fruit is claimed to be a laxative and emmenagogue. Some Hawaiian healers have gone so far as to tout noni's anti-cancer effects. As a result of these widespread uses and reported benefits, there has arisen a large demand for noni juice as a dietary supplement.
Noni fruit contains trace amounts of over 160 chemical substances, the most important of which are its unique polysaccharides. These unique heteropolysaccharides are composed mainly of the sugars glucuronic acid, galactose, arabinose, and rhamnose. Various studies have found that a combination of these noni polysaccharides have a significant beneficial effect.
Despite the well-known benefits of consuming noni juice, there are several aspects of noni juice that limits its widespread use and acceptance. For example, noni degrades quickly. When a noni fruit falls off a tree, for example, it will develop mold and rot within two to three hours. By way of comparison, similar mold and rot may take days to develop on an apple that falls from a tree. This problem of quick degradation exists not only with noni fruit, but with noni fruit juices and noni-based dietary supplements as well.
The best method to preserve the valuable noni polysaccharides for human use has been an area of debate, trial and error, and scientific breakthroughs. Fermentation (using decayed fruit) of noni is a relatively new method of production, one not used by traditional healers. Fermentation is an easy method of production that also makes the taste and smell of noni less noxious. However, the fermentation industry has developed into a sloppy production method preferred by commercial producers but less favored by traditional healers, and hence the typical consumers of dietary supplements.
Another aspect of the noni fruit that can serve as a barrier to it use is its noxious smell and taste. As a result, conventional noni-based dietary supplements typically have less than 5 percent noni. In response to this problem, numerous approaches have been made to overcome noni's noxious smell and taste, including artificial sweeteners and the use of other fruit juices such as grape juice. Nevertheless, artificial sweeteners may have negative health consequences and are therefore widely disfavored among the typical users of dietary supplements. Further, the use of natural fruit juices has thus far proven to be of limited success in overcoming the noxious smell and taste of noni fruit juice.
In view of the foregoing, there is a continuing need for improved methods of producing dietary supplements incorporating noni fruit as well as methods and compositions for providing more palatable dietary supplements incorporating noni fruit.